India Exits Recession After GDP Grows 0.4 Per Cent In December Quarter

The Indian economy has come out of recession after the gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.4 per cent in the three months ended December 2020 as against a contraction of 7.3 per cent in the September quarter.

"For the entire year, GDP is estimated to contract by 8 per cent in the financial year," the National Statistical Office (NSO) said in a press release, reported NDTV.

India's quarterly GDP growth had slipped for two consecutive quarters on the back of the novel coronavirus outbreak. The GDP had declined by a massive 23.9 per cent in the June quarter amid the pandemic-led nationwide lockdown and by 7.5 per cent during the September quarter.

In the July-September period, India had entered a technical recession as the GDP fell for two successive quarters.

The output of eight core infrastructure sectors increased 0.1 per cent in January 2021, compared to last year. The infrastructure output, which includes eight core sectors including coal, crude oil, and electricity, declined by 8.8 per cent during April-January 2020-2021 against a growth rate of 0.8 per cent in the same period of the previous year.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its Monetary Policy Review presented on February 5, projected a GDP growth of 10.5 per cent in the financial year 2021-22. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects India to grow at 11.5 per cent in the same period.

Meanwhile, Moody's also revised its forecast to a 7 per cent contraction for the current fiscal year, ending in March, from an earlier estimate of a 10 per cent contraction.

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